is "good morning america" or ♪ in the headlines, criminals begin targeting the san bruno disaster. four are arrested trying to claim donations intended only for fire victims. >> cleanup crews are beginning to remove some of the hazardous materials left by the fire. there's concern the weekend rain could wash some of the toxics away. >> there's a look from downtown san francisco. notice the lack of clouds. a little warmer. extra sunshine will make today the warmest day in the cycle and the chance of rain this weekend. >> drier commute and looking light at the bay bridge toll plaza. no problems. >> good morning, everyone. i'm eric thomas. we have breaking news for you. >> i'm kristen sze. let's get right to it. that's in concord where police are investigating a shooting involving an officer.

details are very limited right now but we were able to confirm that it involved an officer and we know the area around the 1700 block of amador avenue has been closed because of this. about 2:30 this morning concord officers tried to stop a car. police cornered a suspect who flashed a weapon and that's when they opened fire wounding him. theresa garcia is on the scene and will be joining us live with more on this breaking story in just a few minutes. we're also following developing news in san francisco where right now an intersection is closed as police investigate a nasty early morning accident that sent four people to the hospital. this happened at the intersection of chestnut. two cars collided and look at that, one of them flipped. all four people taken to the hospital are said to have serious injuries. no word on when that intersection will be open. frances will be keeping an eye on that. >> the latest on the deadly gas

line explosion in san bruno. this morning officials plan to warn homeowners about fraudulent contractors who may try to scam those looking to rebuild. the city is putting a price tag so far on last week's disaster. private property sustained more than $31 million in damage. that includes 37 homes which were destroyed and another 19 which need major repairs. the disaster caused more than $6.5 million to public property including streets and sidewalks. the national transportation safety board expects the damaged section of gas pipeline to arrive at the lab outside washington d.c. today. amy hollyfield reports on some of the people accused of taking advantage of the tragedy. >> the rec center in san bruno is full of services fire victims need. but at least four people saw this place as an opportunity. investigators say they walked up to the dmv table and asked for driver's licenses using addresses of homes that burned to the ground. >> never had a driver's license

before but i read that house, think that burned down. >> they then took their new i.d.'s to various agencies such as pg&e looking for handouts. >> essentially you could walk out with $1500 in gift cards and a free cellphone. >> and they did. >> they did. >> the dmv figured out they were lying and police arrested all four people. it's too much for the san bruno residents to bear. >> they need some serious punishment. that is just the lowest of low. >> inside the neighborhood, police have arrested one person for looting and caught two would-be looters impersonating a firefighter and a utility worker. the residents are still finding some valuables that managed to escape the fire and the thieves. today fire crews cut into a safe they found in the rubble and discovered jewelry inside. residents were given a couple hours today to go through the

debris. >> that was amy hollyfield reporting. while residents look to rebuild and investigators try to find out more about the blast, health experts worry about a potential environmental disaster lurking in san bruno. much of the rubble lining the streets remain untouched. the debris includes burned out houses and chard vehicles. officials are concerned about the air in the area but other things such as metal found in paint, batteries and electronics can be unsafe. >> i'm concerned for the ramifications for our health. i'm by the epicenter. >> as long as there is no exposure, there should be no concern. >> homeowners must wear safety suits and masks when they sift through the ash and can stay a maximum of two hours. this weekend's forecast calls for rain. that means county workers will line storm drains with berms to prevent toxins from getting into the local watershed. there's much more on the san

bruno blast at abc7news.com, including dispatch audio from the night the fire broke out as well as resources for san bruno residents and information on how to help and how to get help. that's all on abc7news.com. 4:35 is our time. the city of berkeley and bay area crime stoppers are offering a $17,000 reward in connection with a street robbery that left a man dead and his fiancee injured. it happened early sunday morning shortly before 4:00 at the corner of emerson street on berkeley's south side. two robbers shot a man several times. he was the chilean native's 35th birthday and he was walking home from a party. his fiancee was punched in the face. the robbers drive away in a two-toned s.u.v. heading west. palo alto police have arrested two men they believe took part in a shooting death of a cabdriver more than a year ago.

31-year-old darrick powell died after being shot in his cab july 2nd last year. officers don't think robbery was a motive because nobody took powell's wallet. they arrested two men this week and yesterday. >> 850 employees at san francisco's hilton union square hotel are a step closer to a possible strike. they voted last night to authorize the walkout. the workers are among 9,000 san francisco hotel employees who have been working without a contract for over a year. this video is from a three-day job action in april. hilton housekeepers, doormen, bell hops and kitchen staff. bargaining is set to resume today. >> day 78 of the state's budget stalemate and the longest they've gone without a spending plan. a standoff whether more taxes or spending cuts are needed to

close california's $19 billion deficit. the budget mess may not be resolved until after the november elections. the state controller has warned he may have to start issuing iou's before the end of the month. >> bay area homeowners and businesses can take plenty of steps to clean up the air we breath. the bay area air quality management district may expand its own local version of cash for clunkers to get cars off the road. it includes requiring dairies to reduce methane gas from their cows by changing their feed. another idea calls for wineries to minimize sweet-smelling emission from fermentation tanks. >> how public safety officials in san bruno are trying to get ahead of the rain as far as keeping toxics from people. let's find out more for the rain. >> mainly really light. the bulk is going to fall in the north bay as we talked about

yesterday. i don't think it's going to be a gully washer by any stretch of the imagination. always better to be safe. let's take a look what's happening right now. it is mainly clear. that's why temperatures are down to 48 napa, near 50 santa rosa and novato near 60, oakland. 61 los gatos. about 70 in antioch. the temperatures, yeah, much warmer in some areas than yesterday at this time. like antioch 14 degrees warmer. concord and livermore 3, san francisco 4. a clear sky means you're 6 to 2 degrees cooler than yesterday. we'll see clouds increase along the coast during the afternoon hours. that will keep you 63 half moon bay, near 70 san francisco and richmond with low to mid-70s throughout the bay. upper 70s the south bay, low 80ss north bay valleys and sunny mid 80s in the east bay valleys. this is as warm as it gets with the extra clouds tomorrow and even drizzle in the morning. we'll have cooler conditions in fact over the weekend we'll have mainly cloudy skies and

temperatures 10 degrees cooler with a chance of rain both saturday and sunday, again the best of that will be in the north bay. here's frances with an update on that accident. >> yeah, mike. this is the marina district. the early morning crash on chestnut street. it was shut down for a while but we just got the latest update from the san francisco police department just a couple minutes ago. they said everything is actually now open so no delays as you make your way through the marina neighborhood. but, of course, it's right next to lombard and no delays there as well. we'll check out the south bay for you. heads up on the north 101 connector to north 880 or south 880. the connection ramp is closed for road work and that's scheduled until 5:00 so another 20 minutes. but you can see a lot of green. traffic is light right now. eric, kristen. >> glad to get the good news in san francisco. frances, thanks a lot. it's 4:39. >> august was a bad month for home foreclosures. we'll have the latest numbers coming up. >> things are so bad, one bay

area district is taking a hard look at closing half its schools. next where the students would go. go. >> and meg whitman faces a to ♪ your favorites, in pieces.

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but our favorite thing is eating totino's pizza rolls. but our favorite thing is eating totino's pizza rolls. ♪ we're the kids in america ♪ oh, oh, oh good morning, everyone. it's 4:42 on the abc 7 morning news. a live look in high definition from our rooftop camera towards the embarcadero and bay bridge. traffic light on the embarcadero right now. temperatures? well, mild as you step outside this morning. mike can tell us more about the weather forecast and frances is keeping track of traffic. >> we've got news right now. new foreclosure data released this morning shows lenders took back more homes in august than any other month since the start of the mortgage crisis three years ago. more than 95,000 homes nationwide were repossessed by lenders last month. that's an increase of 25% from the same month last year. however, the number of homes entering the foreclosure process

slowed the 7th straight month. it involved more than 95,000 properties down 1% from july. despite decreases over last year, las vegas had the highest rate, modesto second, vallejo of fairfield is 9th on that list. >> alameda school officials are considering a radical budget option closing half the city's schools to cut costs. lincoln middle school is one of nine schools that could close over the next two years. it's part of a consolidation plan for grades k-6 and there would be a significant age gap in high schools mixing students from grades 7 through 12. >> so that's my biggest concern, is how the high schoolers are going to impact the middle schoolers. >> is that intimidating to you? >> there's not enough room for all the children. >> alameda voters had rejected a

parcel tax proposal in june. it can still be up to $12 million short for the next two years even with the school consolidation. >> it's about 4:44. a wildfire forces more evacuations in the southern sierra. why firefighters are worried even though they had it partially controlled. >> i'm jenelle wang. a big sign that the war on drugs is failing. i'll have the story coming up. >> plus meg whitman gets grilled about a campaign ad and her finances during what was supposed to be a friendly stop in san francisco. >> and a fruit fight of a different kind. up next the store

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owe through detroit and cleveland. watch out for delays there. we'll have them with our flight tracker at abc7news.com. >> mike, thank you very much. it's 4:47. a new survey shows illegal drug use is on the rise reaching its highest level in nearly a decade. this morning law enforcement and marijuana advocates are at odds what the numbers really mean. jenelle wang joins us live with the story. >> eric, on one hand some say it means we've got a big problem but others say it's a sign that marijuana needs to be legalized because the war on pot is failing. a new report shows 9% of the population age 12 and older used illegal drugs last year. the office of national drug control policy believes that's because people's perceptions that drugs can be harmful is eroding. legalized marijuana supporters say the government should stop spending millions of dollars in

taxpayer money if enforcement efforts are not effective. they believe the country should implement laws to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol and tobacco. that's the same with supporters of 19 in california. they will decide whether or not to legalize marijuana. other drugs the government saw a sharp increase in ecstasy use riding 37%. methamphetamine jumped 60%. on a positive note cocaine abuse continues to decline down 32% from its peak in 2006. >> thanks a lot. the latest in the california's governor race. meg whitman has broken the record for the most personal money spent. her staff says the republican candidate has spent $119 million of her own money. new york mayor michael bloomberg held the previous record, $109 million. whitman was grilled about her spending at san francisco headquarters.

>> isn't it cynical and disingenuous approach to democracy to spend $100 million on television commercials and refuse to engage in an unscripted live debate with your opponent. >> we've got three now scheduled debates with jerry brown. i accepted three right away. he accepted two and just recently accepted the debate in fresno. >> whitman was also criticized for a campaign ad. the essentials of the ad were true. >> hundreds of people are under mandatory evacuation orders in the southern sierra. they've been forced to leave their homes because of a fire burning near lake isabella. the blaze is 50% contained but firefighters are worried it could jump lines. it's torched 6,000 acres of land and destroyed one home. the cause is still under investigation. >> let's take a look at our weather this morning. we've got some cloud cover

again. wonder if it's going to clear. >> i think it would be a lot easier plus it's warmer this morning. that gives us a higher starting point for warmer weather this afternoon. outside, show you what it going on. 4:59 this morning, a little bit of a breeze as we look down on the bay. notice the clear skies out there. and a few clouds way off in the distance. let's talk temperatures. we're kind of all over the scale from 48 napa to 70 in antioch and between most of us in the 50s. around the monterey bay we have a partly cloudy condition, even clearness around santa cruz and gilroy already in the 40s. low to mid-50s monterey, watsonville and salinas. let's talk about some sunshine today. it will be the warmest afternoon in this forecast cycle. cloudy, a little drizzle possible tonight as that cold front draws near. that's going to bring us some chances of rain saturday and sunday. the best again still in the north bay. that hasn't changed since yesterday. mid to upper 70s in the south bay today.

we could hit 80 in los gatos. pretty close, 79 campbell. on the peninsula a mostly sunny sky, millbrae 72, warm up to 76 palo alto. as you head to the south bay, los gatos at 78 degrees. low to mid-60s along the coast with increasing cloud cover and downtown south san francisco and sausalito mid to upper 60s even low 70s sausalito with upper 70s to low 80s in the north bay valleys. increasing clouds along your beaches and low 60s this afternoon. sunshine everybody in the 70s on the east bay shore from richmond to 70, oakland 72 to 75 fremont. as we look into the east bay valleys, we have low to mid-80s everywhere with sunshine today, even an 87 out in brentwood. we'll have mid-80s morgan hill, gilroy. a little behind at 81. a few clouds linger monterey bay, carmel mid to upper 60s for you. looking at tonight's forecast, you can see the changes taking

place. the green defines the drizzle along the coast and higher elevations around the bay and also temperatures warmer than this morning with mid to upper 50s and even san jose and palo alto around 60 degrees. here's a look at the jet stream and it holds tonight, tightly today and to a certain extent tomorrow as you see these little ripples in it and that's wave after wave of energy. this system isn't coming in in one bulk fashion. it's going to come in several weak services and that's why we have a chance of rain starting with drizzle tomorrow morning and once we get past that, looks like we'll have a mixture of clouds and sunshine for most of friday afternoon. you can see by friday evening, the rain starting to slide a little closer into the north bay so watch out for scattered sprinkles if you have plans friday evening outside in the north bay and watching the cold front ever so slowly seeps down and stays in the north bay saturday morning, the coast drizzle and into san francisco and then saturday afternoon north bay definitely getting

wet. also parts of the east bay and then by sunday morning all this should be dealing with a little drizzle and off and on rain chances or chances of rain on sunday. let's take a look at your accu-weather seven-day forecast. the temperatures drop nearly 10 degrees. that's how much cooler this weekend once the clouds and rain cooler air moves in. once it passes, increasing sunshine and slightly warmer weather as we get close to the autumnal equinox on wednesday. >> we're following breaking news in concord. in fact, we have a live shot now of the scene of this officer-involved shooting. theresa garcia our reporter is there and going to give us a live report in the next seven minutes. this is just south of clayton and willow pass road. ash bury drive currently closed and theresa will bring us more details. willow pass and clayton are completely open near that shopping center. let's go to the maps and talk

about road work in hayward. the north 880 connector to westbound 92 is closed until 5:00 this morning. westbound closed from santa clara to highway $92. we'll check out the other side of the san mateo bridge. that road work going on from 280 to foster city boulevard. pretty hard to drive through that area when they've got the road work. check out a live shot of the 101 and 880 interchange. the connector from north 101 to 880 should be reopened any minute. you can always find out if there's road work for your route to work by going to abc7news.com. you'll find it under the bay area traffic link. kristen. >> frances, thank you so much. our time now is 4:54. two environmental groups are taking wal-mart to court to stop the retail giant's expansion

plans. the sierra club and conservation action have filed suit claiming city officials violated rules when they approved wal-mart's plan to turn its existing store there into a new supercenter which would sell groceries and a whole lot more. the retailer will fund the city's legal fees. >> a hearing before the san francisco planning commission today is expected to determine the future of a north beach market. the nearly 6,000 square foot market was licensed by the city back in 2007 as a grocery store with a small self-service restaurant and area to sell wine and beer but the market owners decided to eliminate the groceries because nobody was buying them. somebody tipped off the planning commission and now they may have to close up shop. >> here is survival. how to keep the doors open. i think that is the reason why we, you know, we altered what we were selling. and there was no attempt ever -- ever to be a grocery

store. >> you have to understand the rules that govern. you went in under certain expectation. >> if the market closes, 22 people will lose their jobs and the site could become another of the vacant buildings in north beach. >> swat teams will spend the next two days for competition of the best in the west. it kicks off this morning in san jose at 7 a.m.. it's closed to the public for safety reasons. they will be using real ammo. that is why. the competition features the challenge course, sniper contest and live fire ammunition fired in a simulated rescue mission. this marks the 18th year the santa clara county sheriff's office has hosted the best in the west s.w.a.t. team competition. there will be media there, all being very careful, of course. >> right. they know media, they won't let us shoot. the latest in our breaking news.

police at the scene of a shooting in concord. we're live at the scene with the latest on the investigation. >> this morning the man involved in the 580 freeway shoot-out offers a different story about being armed and in body armor. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live in san bruno where there is a warning going out to the people trying to rebuild their homes and lives after last week's explosion and fire. watch out for scams. but already som did you know go-gurt is specially made to freeze and thaw by lunch time? so kids can have their favorite yogurt in their lunch box go-gurt. freeze it. thaw it. eat it up. ¿qué si usamos tacos más grandes? [ male announcer ] old el paso super stuffers. 33% larger shells. feed your fiesta.

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